CFC94 - Happy birthday!

Hello, and happy Friday!  I'm so so sorry that this post is just now going live.  It appears as though Blogger ate my original post (HATE it when that happens!!), and I'm at work today so I haven't been able to re-create this post until now.  Oh well...whaddya gonna do?!?  On to the fun stuff...how about a fun new challenge from CAS-ual Fridays?

 CFC94: Use chipboard in your clean and simple project

And the sponsor for this week's challenge is CAS-ual Fridays Stamps!  The winner of this challenge will receive a $20 gift certificate to spend here.  YAY!

So for this week's challenge, I wanted to use some giant glittery chipboard letters that I've had for years, and find somewhat difficult to use simply due to their size.  But they worked perfectly for this paper yummy:

The base of this card is actually a  frosted report cover from an office supply store.  I love that it's frosted, so it's somewhat similar to a clear acetate card, without the glossy finish and potential for fingerprints.  Yet, it's transparent enough that the stamped "happy birthday" sentiment shows through the card even though the yellow card stock is adhered to the inside of the front of the card.  Cool, right?!?  Here's a closer look at the stamped sentiment:

Above the large glittery chipboard letters, I applied some star cardstock stickers, then applied some Stickles to bring in some more glitter.  Here's another view:

I really hope you'll play along with this week's challenge!  You have until next Thursday at noon EST to do so.  Thanks so much for looking!

Supplies: report cover: GBC; card stock: Core'dinations (yellow), Georgia Pacific (white); chipboard letters: Making Memories; card stock stickers: Basic Grey (stars); stamps: CAS-ual Fridays Stamps (WTF stamp set); ink: Tsukineko; punches: Fiskars (scalloped edge), We R Memory Keepers (corner rounder); glitter glue: Stickles by Ranger

CFC88 - XO

Hello, and happy Friday!  I hope you all had a wonderful week - I know I did ;)  I'm here today with a new challenge from the CAS-ual Fridays blog!  Woo hoo!

CFC88: Love Letters

Use alpha stamps, dies, stickers, etc. on your clean and simple project

And the sponsor for this week's challenge is once again the fabulous Ellen Hutson!  The winner of this challenge will receive a $25 gift card to spend here!

So for this week's challenge, I chose to incorporate letters onto my card in a few different ways.  Check out this paper yummy:

The first (and most subtle way) I added letters to my card was by stamping the heart, which had x's and o's on it already.  I stamped it in red ink, cut it out, then colored over it with a red Copic marker.  The next way I incorporated text was on my tag.  I stamped the tag (from this stamp set) onto some text patterned paper by Stampin' Up!, then cut out the tag.  For the card base, I cut down a piece of self-adhesive cork to be the same size as my card.  I "stamped" on the cork using a Cuttlebug folder!  Yep, I just applied black ink to the raised side of the embossing folder, then laid my cork face-down onto the inked portion.  It worked really well!  To finish off the card, I added some glittery stickers (from Making Memories) to the heart.  Here's a close-up:

I hope you will play along with this week's challenge!  You have until next Thursday at noon EST to do so.  Thanks so much for looking!

Supplies: card stock: Georgia Pacific; cork: Recollections; patterned paper: Stampin' Up!; stamps: Simon Says Stamp & Kelly Purkey (tag), Recollections (heart); inks: Tsukineko; marker: Copic; embossing folder: Cuttlebug; glitter alpha stickers: Making Memories; ribbon: Offray; corner rounder punch: We R Memory Keepers 

CFC72 - miss you

Happy Friday!  I hope everybody has had a wonderful week!  I'm back with the CAS-ual Fridays challenge for this week, and it's a fun one:

 CFC72: Create a clean and simple project inspired by your own blog banner

This week's challenge is sponsored by A Muse Studio.  They have some seriously cute stuff, and the winner of this challenge will win a prize valued at over $35!  How awesome is that?!?

So you can see my blog banner above, and when I chose it, it was because I was drawn to the color combination.  I used the same inspiration to create this paper yummy:

I stamped the Hero Arts Graph Background in gray ink, then cut a frame from blue patterned paper using a Nestabilities die.  The yellow circles are from the Paper Smooches Potpourri set, and the sentiment flag is a stamp by Pebbles Inc.  I added some yellow baker's twine to a cute little blue button, and adhered it onto the sentiment flag.  Here's a close-up:

So will you toot your own horn?  I can't wait to see the entries this week!  You have until next Thursday at noon EST to play along.  We'd love to have you!

Thanks for looking!

Supplies: cardstock: Georgia Pacific; patterned paper: Making Memories; stamps: Hero Arts (graph), Paper Smooches (rings), Pebbles Inc. (sentiment flag); inks: Tsukineko (gray), TPC Studio (yellow, red); cutting die: Nestabilities by Spellbinders; die-cutting machine: Sizzix; button: Buttons Galore & More; baker's twine: Divine Twine; corner rounder: We R Memory Keepers

Special birthday blog hop - Sweet birthday wishes

Welcome and happy Monday! More importantly, happy birthday to Michele Gross, owner of CAS-ual Fridays!
Some of us Girl Fridays got together and arranged a super-double-top-secret blog hop to show Michele how much we appreciate her and to celebrate her big day. If you've been hopping from the beginning, you should've arrived here from Suzanne's blog. If you're just now joining in, welcome! Be sure to go back to the beginning and check out everybody's wonderful celebratory creations (I'll post the order after my pics, in case you get lost along the way). Okay, now for the paper yummies:I used this week's Sweet Sunday Sketch:

I really liked this sketch, and I chose it specifically to challenge myself and my brain. See that rectangular element that's off kilter? Things like that HURT MY BRAIN! I love straight lines and even numbers and symmetry, so I'm trying to do more of this kind of thing to get me out of my comfort zone. I even put the ribbon on at the same angle. ACK! Anyway, I replaced the flower element in the sketch with this cute lil' lollipop, then based my color scheme around the 4 colors from the lollipop. I don't know that I would've ever put together these colors/patterns on my own, but that little sucker pulled them all together (pun intended, LOL). Thanks, lollipop!

I used my favorite alphabet stamps from American Crafts to create this sentiment. This set never ceases to amaze me, with how the letters match up so perfectly to make it look like a "pre-made" stamp or a computer-generated sentiment:
Well thanks for joining this special blog hop. Next up is Jenny. Enjoy the rest of the hop, and don't forget to stop by and send Michele some more sweet birthday wishes! Here is the order, in case you get lost:

Karen <--who arranged this and created the fantastic badge above

Dana

Stephanie

Karolyn

Angie

Debby

Lorena

Suzanne

Kimberly <-- you are here

Jenny

Virginia

Julie Ranae

Christina

Laurie

Lisa

Deb

Gayatri

I'm playing along here:

Sweet Sunday Sketch Challenge 157

Crafty Catz Weekly Challenge #129: Stripes or checks ( I went with checks)

Paper Crafting Journey Challenge 7: Three or more patterned papers

Paper Pretties Wednesday Challenge PWC202: Create a card for a girl

Supplies: card base: The Paper Studio; patterned papers: Crate Paper (yellow, red), KI Memories (blue); sticker: Crate Paper (green strip); punch out: Crate Paper (lollipop) stamps: American Crafts; ink: Ranger; ribbon: Making Memories; sewing machine: Kenmore; thread: Singer

Happy birthday to you

Happy Wednesday! Today I'm sharing a birthday card I made using this week's sketch from Mojo Monday:

And now for the paper yummies:
I just loved this multi-colored plaid patterned paper from My Mind's Eye, and wanted to pull some of the colors from the plaid into my stamped image. I heat-embossed the stamp (by Hampton Art), then colored it in with Prismacolor markers and added Stickles to the bow. The sentiment is a rub-on from American Crafts. I machine-stitched some wavy lines along the edges of the patterned paper, and finished it off with some adorable ribbon from Making Memories. Here's a closer view:
I'm playing along here:

Mojo Monday Sketch 232

CropStop Challenge 62: Rainbow of colors

Frosted Designs Fabulous Friday Challenge: Kraft paper

Cupcake Craft Challenge 183: Going Dotty

Thanks for looking!

Supplies: cardstock: Recollections (kraft), The Paper Company (blue, green), Georgia Pacific (white for stamping); patterned paper: My Mind's Eye; stamp, embossing powder: Hampton Art; ink: Tsukineko; markers: Prismacolor; Stickles glitter glue: Ranger; rub-on sentiment: American Crafts; scallop edge punch: EK Success; ribbon: Making Memories; sewing machine: Kenmore; thread: Singer